Thermal and wind devices for multisensory human-computer interaction: an overview

In order to create immersive experiences in virtual worlds, we need to explore different human senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch). Many different devices have been developed by both industry and academia towards this aim. In this paper, we focus our attention on the researched area of thermal and wind devices to deliver the sensations of heat and cold against people’s skin and their application to human-computer interaction (HCI). First, we present a review of devices and their features that were identified as relevant. Then, we highlight the users’ experience with thermal and wind devices, highlighting limitations either found or inferred by the authors and studies selected for this survey. Accordingly, from the current literature, we can infer that, in wind and temperature-based haptic systems (i) users experience wind effects produced by fans that move air molecules at room temperature, and (ii) there is no integration of thermal components to devices intended for the production of both cold or hot airflows. Subsequently, an analysis of why thermal wind devices have not been devised yet is undertaken, highlighting the challenges of creating such devices.Espírito Santo Research and Innovation Foundation (FAPES, Brazil) - Finance Code 2021-GL60J), the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES, Brazil) - Finance Code 88881.187844/2018-01 and 88887.570688/2020-00 and by the National Council for Scientific and Technological (CNPq, Brazil) - Finance Code 307718/2020-4. The work was also funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement no. 688503. E. B. Saleme additionally acknowledges aid from the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo

Paleo Journey: An Interactive Paleolithic Cave Art Experience. Using the User Experience (UX) Design Process to Develop An Interactive and Immersive Paleolithic Cave Art Exhibit Suitable for Children Between Five (5) and Seven (7) Years Old.

Most European caves containing Paleolithic cave art paintings (dating from approximately 10,000 – 50,000 years BP) are no longer accessible to the general public, and their visitor centers often require lengthy travel for tourists. In addition, the interactivity associated with these exhibits largely focus upon computer screens, and not a tactile interface. This Thesis project seeks to create a prototype of a tactile interface on a mock cave surface using projection mapping and motion tracking. In developing this exhibit, the user experience (UX) design process was used as a methodology for defining, researching and co-designing for a particular user segment. While this Thesis only focuses on the users between the ages of five (5) to seven (7) years old, it can be used as a model for other user segments. In researching and testing prototypes with children from this age cohort, it was determined that young children have visual-spatial development issues that hinder their ability to identify common animals in static cave art such as lions, rhinos and bison. After viewing the same cave art animals in motion graphics, 100% of all children were able to correctly identify the animal types

Interaction for Immersive Analytics

International audienceIn this chapter, we briefly review the development of natural user interfaces and discuss their role in providing human-computer interaction that is immersive in various ways. Then we examine some opportunities for how these technologies might be used to better support data analysis tasks. Specifically, we review and suggest some interaction design guidelines for immersive analytics. We also review some hardware setups for data visualization that are already archetypal. Finally, we look at some emerging system designs that suggest future directions

Multimedia Application: Virtual Reality with 3D Graphics for Interactive Environment in Medical Education

Technology evolution and the need for teaching modernization led to the design of virtual reality applications in medical education. The current study aims to create an interactive environment by using three-dimensional (3D) models of the human arterial system. 3D arterial models allow undergraduate medical students to easily memorize main arterial branching pattern after intra-arterial navigation. The students have the ability by using the application for enjoyable interaction during navigation for learning process and continue or repeat the intra-arterial navigation. The study compares two students’ groups by using the criterion whether or not they have followed the anatomy of the arterial system course and were successfully examined to it. The results showed no difference in experience in the evaluation of virtual reality application between the two groups, as well as no gender differences. Digital applications, although complex, offer great advantages, such as learning without jeopardizing human body and the possibility of multiple repetitions, that allows students fully understand the educational subject

XRSpotlight: Example-based Programming of XR Interactions using a Rule-based Approach

Research on enabling novice AR/VR developers has emphasized the need to lower the technical barriers to entry. This is often achieved by providing new authoring tools that provide simpler means to implement XR interactions through abstraction. However, novices are then bound by the ceiling of each tool and may not form the correct mental model of how interactions are implemented. We present XRSpotlight, a system that supports novices by curating a list of the XR interactions defined in a Unity scene and presenting them as rules in natural language. Our approach is based on a model abstraction that unifies existing XR toolkit implementations. Using our model, XRSpotlight can find incomplete specifications of interactions, suggest similar interactions, and copy-paste interactions from examples using different toolkits. We assess the validity of our model with professional VR developers and demonstrate that XRSpotlight helps novices understand how XR interactions are implemented in examples and apply this knowledge in their projects